Something That No One Could Ever Imagine
by TheMysteriouswatcher
Summary: Five years has passed since Leslie's death. Jess tries to cope as best as he can, and things are going very slowly uphill. Then, two things happens in his life that will change him forever.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.**

**Extra note: This is based on the 2007 movie, and not the earlier movie, nor the book.**

It had gone a few years since Leslie's death. A few years since Jess' best friend had her life taken away from her. A few years when Jess' first love ever left him.

Those years had been really painful. And not only in one way. Jess thought about her every day. Her blonde hair, her outrageous outfits. Her smile. Her smile…

Jess' life had been on the verge of absolute breakdown. Financial crisis left, bullying in school to the right. Jess hadn't been holding up very well before, and it was even worse now. When Leslie had come along in his life, he felt like all the problem's in his life were just… distant. Not gone, but very distant.

_She loves you, you know._

Jess groaned at the memory. The last he had ever seen of the Burke's. The last words of friendship spoken to him by Leslie's father. A painful memory, bringing not much except for draught. And then, his father.

Jess had a really hard time coming home that day. Having a crush on his music teacher, Miss Edmunds, had caused him to make a life-changing decision. He hated himself every day after that.

Miss Edmunds had invited him to a trip to a museum. She was thinking at first to invite her cousins, but in the last minute, her sister had changed her mind, and rejected the invite. Thinking about what to do, she had made the decision to call Jess. Of course, it was unknown to her the feelings he felt for her. Sure, it was just a silly little crush, but that one thought of his brain had caused the death of his friend. Or that's how it was in his eyes.

Jess had considered to not inviting Leslie to the trip to the museum. He did so, only because he wasn't aware of the fact that his heart had already paired with Leslie's. He was unaware of that. When they said goodbye the day before that one, Jess felt something he had never felt before. As he stared at the petite girl running away in the rain, his heart had done Jumping Jacks. He hadn't ever felt this way, and to be honest, he didn't think he would in the nearest future. Boy, he was so wrong to think so.

When he returned home on that dreary day, oblivious of the drowning of his friend, he was happier than ever. Leslie, Miss Edmunds, everything.

-''Were have you been?'' His father, Jack Aarons, the man who always had a stone face, asked him. Jess didn't understand the question, as he just stared in confusion.

-''We thought you were dead!'' his sister, Brenda had blurted out from her seating on the floor next to the couch. Jack had thrown her a hard glare, telling her to be quiet without using any words. The confusion still raged in Jess' mind, he didn't understand still. He didn't understand until his dad spoke those petrifying words, explaining that the rope had broke and Leslie had fallen into the creek, knocking herself unconscious and thereby drowning.. At first, after hearing them, Jess only stared in disbelief. Shortly thereafter, he felt the rage build up inside. Letting out only small parts of it through accusations of his father lying, he stormed right back outside. He needed to see for himself.

The various police vehicles situated around the Burkes' home didn't help one bit. But Jess continued. He felt his heart sink into darkness, but he need one last confirmation that his father was telling the truth.

He saw it, in form of the gateway used to get in and out of Terabithia in the form a rope. At first, he didn't want to believe. He thought initially that his mind was just playing tricks on him, that this whole ordeal was just a really bad thing. His last hope was crushed when he saw the rope, snatched at the middle. He then slowly backed away from the rope in horror, finally realizing that, no matter how hard he tried, this wasn't a dream.

Jack desperately looked for him the bigger part of the afternoon. He didn't really know of the tree house that his son and his son's best friend had constructed. He looked everywhere, literally behind every rock. When he had spent half a day of fruitless searching, he returned home, exhausted and hopeless, he quickly hugged his wife before slumping down on the family couch.

-''Jess is a strong boy. He'll be fine.'' His father mumbled to no one in particular. His third oldest daughter came up to him to hug him. Jack accepted the hug and tried his best to sound brave.

Jess came home an hour after his father. When they heard the front door open, they all immediately ran to it. Jess came in slowly, a lifeless expression on his face. When Jack asked him what he was thinking going out there without letting anyone know, he just gave his father a really sad look and then passed by them. When Ellie tried to say hi, he just ignored her and proceeded into his room, cutting himself off for the rest of the day. Even though Jack tried to talk to him after turning in Joyce Ann and her older sister, he had simply not responded. Jack sort of understood why.

The following days, Jess was completely catatonic. He never got out from his bead, and he didn't eat or drink anything. The only time he had done so was when Jack offered him a piece of cake that had been left over from May Belle's birthday party. Jess accepted the cake and actually ate most of it. Other than that, he spent all of his time watching the picture he had drawn of his blonde love. He shed a new tear every few minutes.

Afterwards, his family was extremely worried about him. They had to take him to a doctor, as he was showing symptoms of serious depression and catatonics. The doctor had even made an extremely shocking discovery. It seemed that Jess would die of his depression if he was not treated immediately. The family got very shaken by this, but fortunately, they managed to keep him alive with medicine.

Today, Jess is a student in ninth grade that lives life a lot easier. However, he still misses Leslie a lot. He is usually happy, but when Leslie does get to his mind, this is quickly changed.

Soon, something will happen that no one, especially not Jess, could ever predict.


	2. Chapter 2

-''Hey, Jess? Time to wake up. School starts soon, and you'd hate to come late on your first day in Ninth grade.'' Jess' father told him as he shook him lightly. Jess groaned quietly as he exited the dream he had. Like many others, it was a nightmare about Leslie's death. Jess then slowly sat up. He had lost a medium amount of weight during his period of being catatonic and not eating anything. He looked both older and was a lot taller since then, having grown at least a feet.

-''What time is it?'' Jess mumbled, doing his best to escape from his prison of sleep. Jack patted him on the back as he got down to the floor. Jess was catching up to Jack in terms of being tall.

-''Half past 6.'' His father said as an answer to his question. ''Jess, did you have that dream again? About Leslie?''

Jess looked at him in silence for a few seconds, and then looked down into the ground.

-''Yeah, I did…'' he confirmed, nodding slowly. ''I'm standing right behind her as she swings across, and then the rope breaks. She falls in, hits her head and starts to drift downstream. I want to jump in, jump in after her, save her, but my feet are stuck to the ground. I can't move, and eventually she just… disappears. Drowns.'' His voice cracked slightly at the end of the monolouge. Real sadness in his heart there.

-''Alright, son… but know this.'' Jack said as he used a hand to lift Jess' head up. He looked into Jess' eyes for a few seconds, a kind expression on his face. ''You were her best friend. I'm not sure, but I believe that she thought that you were one of the few reasons she wanted to live.'' Jess nodded slowly, thinking about his friend, his first love.

-''She was one of my reasons I wanted to live, too.'' Jess sighed, his voice showing that a knot was forming in his throat. ''She still is.'' A tear inevitably broke out through his eye. Jack nodded in understanding and then pulled his son into a hug.

-''She'll remember you, always.'' The elder Aarons reminded his son.

Jess put on the rest of his clothes, mainly his socks, and then proceeded out into the kitchen. Brenda was sitting on a chair, reading a newspaper and eating some toast. May Belle and Joyce Ann refused to stop shoving bread pieces into each other's faces, recieving some scolding from their mother. Jess sat down in one of the remaining empty seat, right across from his toast-eating, newspaper-reading older sister. He helped himself to a slice of bread with nothing on it. He didn't feel hungry even one bit.

-''How are you, Jess?'' Mary, his mother, asked him while throwing him a quick glance. Jess only threw the glance back without much but a short ''Mhm.'' May Belleg ave him a hug which he barely returned.

After an hour or so, he and May Belle were standing at their normal spot, waiting for the bus. Joyce Ann was still one year under starting in the school Jess studied.

-''You really miss her, right?'' May Belle asked his older brother out of the air. Jess turned his head towards his sister. She was almost a head taller.

-''Yeah…'' he responded with no emotion. He sighed and was about to say something when the buss arrived. May Belle got on first, followed closely by Jess. While May Belle quickly took a seat near the back with her best friend, Alexandra, Jess hesitated before sitting himself down on a seat near the front of a bus.

It wasn't until halfway thorugh the trip that Jess noticed the person sitting on the opposing sides of seats that was staring at him, or at least hat Jess thought was staring. The person seemed to be a boy, Jess couldn't tell as he couldn't see his face clearily, due to a large hood pulled over and then down over his face. The person was also wearing a thick winter jacket, seeing it was in the middle of fall. When Jess looked back at him, the person quickly looked away. Jess thought it was pretty weird, but didn't really care much. If the person couldn't do anything to give him Leslie back, then he had no importance to Jess.

After another ten minutes, the bus arrived at the same, old school he had studied in his whole life. Luckily, the school wasn't like other schools. Jess had no big trouble finding his proper location for the first class, seeing as there was signs and maps almost everywhere. Jess took farewell of May Belle, who also followed the signs to her proper class.

Jess stepped into the hallway of the nine-graders house. There were already a lot of people in the hall, many of which Jess didn't recognize. A lot of new blood, it seemed. Hed id see Jerry, a tall, good-looking boy that had been in Jess' class ever since he started. He hadn't spent much time with the guy, almost none at all, but thankfully, he wasn't like certain other people that Jess in particular did not like. Unfortunately, one of them seemed to be here.

Scott Hoager was in the middle of a small crowd of people, discussing loudly about something Jess couldn't quite pick up on. Luckily enough for Jess, he managed to slip by unnoticed. He then found the right classroom, stil following the signs, and patiently waited for a teacher.

A teacher did appear, eventually, in the form of a black, short bald man with white hair set in a typical ''sideburns'' manner. He was carrying a medium-sized portfolio as well as a just as medium-sized bag. He made his way through the pupils, almost everyone taller than him. With short pushes, as well as fairly many ''Excuse me'', he reached the door that Jess camped outside of. With a short and simple move of his hand, he slipped out the key from a pocket in his coat and unlocked the door. It slowly glided up.

Jess was one of the first to enter the classroom. It was fairly normal sized, perhaps just as big as the ones he had used in his previous grades. In came, after him, all of the other students. Two actually got stuck beside one another, and a minor fight had occured. Luckily, it subdued just as quickly as it had started.

Jess chose a seat in the middle and then slightly to the left. He looked those places, although he didn't know why. He just sat himself down and watched as other pupls did the same. Of course, other minor arguments took place when someone had taken a seat that someone else wanted, such as the very popular seat by the windows.

Jess watched the bald man take place behind the desk in front of the blackboard. Jess felt actually that he took a first-sight liking to the short man. The man put his bag on the ground beside the desk, and then the portfolio on it. He opened the Portfolio and took out some kind of folder. Jess thought that it had to contain all the names of the pupils.

Soon enough, everyone had found a seat. There were actually a few seats left empty. Good thing if someone was late.

-''Alright, listen up.'' The bald man then spoke up, his voice deep and firm, quieting everyone that was talking. ''My name is Monty Grahams, and I'm going to be your teacher in most classes. I have a five-year education of being a teacher, and I hope that we are going to have a fun time together. Now, if I may, I would like you to introduce yourselves, tell me a little about your lives and such. I can start incase no one else wants to.''

Silence.

-''Okay then.'' Monty started. ''As I've already told you, my name is Monty Grhams, and I'm in the age of fiftythree. I live in a medium sized apartment with my wife and our two kids. I was born in Virginia, and then decided to take education in the local school. In other words, this one. After that, I continued on studying, and eventually I became the man I am today. Any other questions?''

A girl who Jess didn't know put her hand up in the air.

-''Yes? What is your name?'' The dark skinned teacher asked politely.

The girl was fairly tall for her age, reaching over Leslie's length. She had short brown her and a pair of green eyes that were stunningly beautiful. Jess didn't feel attracted to her one bit.

-''My name is Jasmine Coran. What was your dream when you were young, Mr. Monty?'' she asked. Monty cleared his throat and then stood up again.

-''As a matter of fact, I wanted to be a veterinary, because I really like animals. Then, when I turned your age, I changed my mind. Sure, I still love animals, but I felt like I wanted to help youths rather than animals. And that is why I'm standing here today, having my first class with you.'' Monty explained, sounding very polite, as if he had been asked by the king of the country.''Well, since it seems that no one has any more questions to ask, I'm gonna proceed to the list of names, and I'll be gonig from the first letter in his last name. So…'' the man announced as he opened the folder.

Inside, there was a paper with a list of thirty or so names. Monty ran his finger along the list and stopped on one at the very top. He cleared his trhoat once more.

-''Alright… Jess Aarons.'' The man said. Then, almost as if he knew who Jess was, he looked at Jess with a happy expression on his face. ''I believe that it is you?'' het hen asked. Jess only responded in silence, donig nothing but a nod. Monty uttered a quick ''Uhuh'' and marked something with the pencil he was holding. Afterwards, he asked Jess to tell him something about himself. Jess at first didn't answer.

-''Well…'' He started very reluctantly. ''There isn't much to tell except for…'' he was interrupted by the trademark beeping noice of Scott Hoager, who sat three desks away to the right. The other two students looked at Scott in confusion, not knowing the supposed ''joke''.

Jess ignored the taunt and resumed what he was about to say.

-''There really in't much to say. I live in a house pretty far from here, so I take the buss with my little sister. I like to draw and I can run pretty fast.'' Monty could tell, judging by Jess face expression, that he had a hard time telling this. He thought for a second and then added a short ''Thank you'' and then told Jess to come to his office after class. Apparently, several of the others thought that Jess had done something wrong, as they made annoying faces and disturbing noises. Jess simply ignored them completely, save for throing Scott a glare.

-''The next would be Jasmine Coran, although we've already talked about her. The next…'' h eran his finger further down the list. ''Scott Hoager.'' He turned to Scott, again, as if he knew that it was him.

-''I believe that is you, am I right?'' He asked, not nearly as polite as before, rather with a small scold. Scott threw him an annoyed glare, and Jess could tell that there was immediately a first-time hostility between the teacher and then student.

-''Yes, sir!'' Scott mumbled, also annoyed by Monty's straightforward assumption. Monty then sat down again in front of the desk. Jess burried his head in his arms. He could hear Monty mumbling something, and then he didn't hear anything.

Jess woke up to Monty shaking him. When he looked up, he saw Monty's old face looking right at him. Hes at up and stretched. He didn't feel like explaining right now, when he remembered Monty had asked him to come to his office.

-''What's the matter, Jess? You fell asleep, for some reason. Well, if you would kindly follow me to my office. I have something I want to talk with you about.'' Jess simply nodded and then followed Monty into a small room right outside and then to the left of the classroom door. When he stepped inside, he was actually shocked to see how well-organized everything were. Monty sat down at his desk, motioning to an empty chair to Jess. Jess sat down.

-''Jess, don't think I'm some kind of weirdo or something here, but I can tell that something has happened. Your face expression, your hesitation and reluctancy, everything. And the fact that the Hoager boy did something as well. Something tells me you know him from before.''

_Seems like you are the fastest runner in class again._

_Are you insane?_

The memory flashed by in Jess' head as he remembered what Scott had said to him the day after Leslie's death. How he had got up from his seat and punched Scott right in the noggin'. It had felt really good; he needed someone to vent on. Then the conversation with Monster Mouth Myers. It had helped a little, little amount,but not at all much.

-''So, tell me what has happened. It must be a very big thing, seeing as how you behaved the short time we've known each other.

Jess was very reluctant to share the dreary story as he felt like he needed to keep the memory to himself, like it was only inside him the memory stayed alive. After a lot of thinknig, he decided to do it.

-''It all began in fifth grade…'' he started telling the story, Monty listennig silently throughout the whole ordeal, not saynig anything. Jess telling of the story eventually led up to today. Monty noded in understaning as Jess was finished telling. He then told Jess that he should go home, as it was the end of the day. The first day was really soft, and thus it was only the first class that would take place. Jess didn't do much but obey, and then waited for the bus. It arrived every hour, so that was good for Jess.

Meanwhile, Monty rooted through his bag and then picked up something from small box. It was some kind of pendant, as it was made out of what looked like gold. The pendant itself was circular. On the front of it was a picture of a young girl with blond hair and a very pretty face. On the back, it said ''Happy birthday, Leslie Burke.''

-''I have to show this to Jess when he gets here tomorrow.'' He mumbled to himself before putting it back into the bag and then leaving the building, heading for his car.


	3. Chapter 3

The next day, Jess woke up just as he had the day before. Second day in ninth grade… That is awesome. He got out from his bed and put on a new, fresh set of clothes. The routine of his morning passed in a very similar manner to the morning before. Luckily, he didn't have the nightmare this night. His mother kissed him and his sister goodbye as they went to wait for the bus.

Eventually, just like yesterday, the bus arrived in time, and the two siblings got on the bus just as before. This time around, however, Jess couldn't find that staring figure from before, either, but that didn't really matter right now.

The bus took the same route as it always had done, and ten minutes later it had reached its destination. He got off and then did his best to reach the classroom again. It went just as well as it had last time, due to him knowing where the rooms were. When he got into the hallway, he noticed that the pupil amount was slightly larger than the previous day. Not really caring, he made his way to the door and waited right outside of it.

A few minutes before Monty appeared to open the door and start the day, he noticed someone cross the hallways very quickly but also with an increased amount of discrete than normal, as if the person had to get somewhere really quickly but wanted to attract as less attraction as possible. He had a gray hood pulled down over his face, which was something Jess picked up on.

At first, Jess knew he had seen the person before, but he found that he couldn't identify who it was. Then, after a second or so, he remembered the figure as the boy that had been staring at him for a few moments on the school bus the day before. Jess couldn't see his face, but he was sure that it had to be a boy. Before he had a chance to check properly, the presumed boy had already slipped in through one of the only two other doors that were open.

Then, Monty appeared and unlocked the door, just like the day before. Jess stepped aside to let the teacher through, and then slipped into the classroom directly after him, taking his seat from the previous day. In after him came everyone else, including a few others that Jess hadn't seen the day before. Good thing there were still a few empty seats left.

Jess took especially notice of a fairly tall, brown-haired boy that was one of the last boys to enter the classroom. He took a seat pretty far back in the classroom, near the back wall. The boy was wearing a grey T-Shirt as well as baggy, blue jeans that would have slipped down had he not been wearing a belt. This was all completed by a pair of brown sneakers, very much like the ones Jess was wearing. He looked around carefully, as if there was someone in the room out after him.

Monty sat down behind his desk once more. He cleared his throat and opened his portfolio. The list of names he always carried with him. Again.

-''Alright, I'm just going to check to make sure that everyone is here. After that, we'll get on with the main thing we are going to do today.'' He then started to rabble up names, looking up between each name, and then back into the list. Jess could only guess that he put some kind of marker beside the names to indicate that everyone was in the classroom.

-''Very good… Now, if nothing comes and barges in on us unexpected, we shall move on and talk about the schedule for the coming term.'' Monty got up from his seat behind his desk and grabbed a piece of chalk. He then wrote something that looked like a box. He drew several lines which eventually formed columns. It was to become the schedule.

Soon, the whole diagram was finished, with five columns, following each other. Each column had the names of the days of the weeks on top of them. Monty drew a clear line underneath_ Monday_.

-''Okay, then. I know it's only the second day of the whole term, but I want to get this done as soon as possible so that we follow our schedule for the rest of ninth grade. We wouldn't want anything to be delayed, now would be?'' Monty did his best to make it sound like a joke, but no one really laughed.

-''Even though Monday was yesterday, I will go through all the classes you will have. Monday will start nine o'clock with a short, thirty-minute class about life education. Simply, advice and such about how to react and what to do in different situations out there in the grown-up world. After that, you will have a one hour long class of English. Unfortunately, I won't be your teacher in that. In my place will instead be a Mrs. Pektas. She is an educated young woman who has studied in this school too.''

Suddenly, before Monty could continue announcing his planned schedule, the door was opened. In came the familiar Principle Turner, the one everyone knew to both the name and the face. He came into the classroom, positioning himself in a spot just in front of the blackboard, allowing everyone to see him. Jess got an uncomfortably feeling deep in his gut.

It almost felt as if the principle had come into the classroom with Leslie all over again. It felt like the day that the principle had brought the person that had changed his life into the classroom all over again. It felt like the principle had brought in his first love into the classroom all over again. But of course, that wasn't the case.

-''Ah, Principle Turner! What do you bring with you?'' Monty asked his colleague. Mr. Turner opened his mouth as if to say something, but eventually, he closed it and instead made a motion with his hand towards the still open doorway, a motion that said ''Come on in''.

Into the classroom stepped a tall, good-looking boy who Jess thought he had seen before somewhere. When he couldn't quite grasp it, he instead ignored it and then did his best to listen to what Principal Turner had to say.

-''I know we usually don't accept pupils that are over the normal age limit, but this boy, Alex Cooper, has missed a lot of ninth grade school time due to a very long tournament in professional ice-hockey. Why don't you introduce yourself more in detail, Alex?'' Turner asked the newcomer, patted his shoulder and then left the room. The boy looked very well, something that some of the cooler guys in the class would call a ''chick-magnet''. Green eyes, a well built body with noticeable muscles and the like. Jess didn't really think about that either for much.

-''Well…'' the tall boy began. ''I don't really know what to say. My name is Alex Cooper, I play professional hockey in the YNHL, and because of that, I need to come back to ninth grade to finish what I didn't get before going to the playoffs for The Stanley Cup. Anyway, I hope that I will enjoy my stay here, and I hope that I won't get jumped the first chance someone gets.'' The boy then joked, getting a couple of quiet laughs.

-''Thank you, Alex. Now that we've had this dealt with, let's get on with laying up the schedule.'' Monty then said, proceeding to draw up all the different blocks of classes on the blackboard.

The day passed quickly, and when lunch was over, it was time to go home. The real ninth grade wouldn't start until tomorrow, so Jess had some breathing room until the real deal started. However, the day wasn't quite over for Jess' part just yet.

Just as he was getting his stuff out from his locker, he heard Monty call for him from the doorway to the classroom. He proceeded to head inside the classroom, where Monty was now sitting down at his desk again. He motioned for Jess to have a seat, and he did without a lot of argument.

-''It was a good thing you hadn't left just yet, Jess.'' Monty said as he took his portfolio out of his bag. It was there he kept the pendant that he meant to show Jess.

Jess started to feel a headache creeping up on him. ''Can you please get to the point, sir? I'm a little tired and I want to get home as soon as possible.'' Monty nodded and opened the portfolio. ''Of course, Jess. I'm in hurry as well, but I felt that I needed to show you this first.''

Monty took the small box out of the portfolio and placed it on the table between pupil and teacher.

-''I found this a few years ago, when I had just returned to Virginia after a trip abroad when I walked by that creek that your friend drowned in…'' Monty was interrupted as Jess winced slightly at this mention. ''I had just reached the end of the creek, and I saw something glitter in the sunlight. After some light shoving of dirt and such around, I came across it.'' Monty then opened the small box, taking out the pendant.

-''That's the pendant I gave her for her eleventh birthday!'' Jess exclaimed loudly as he saw the picture of Leslie on its front side.

-''Jess, I sort of made that connection when I read about the accident in the newspaper. I immediately recognized the name ''Burke'', and that is why I decided to keep the pendant for all those years. Then, when I found out that I would have your class, I saw my opportunity. I've kept it all these years, but I want you to have it now.'' Monty then placed the pendant in Jess' open, almost even limp, hand. Jess just stared at it.

-''I can remember it clearly…'' Jess said absently, as if neither he nor no one else was really there. ''My dad had got an extra pay check from his work, and when we had fixed everything that needed to bought and so. Then, I was reminded that it was Leslie's birthday in a few days, so I managed to convince him to buy something really nice for her. After a bit of an argument, we bought that pendant. I asked if one could put a photo and some text there, and it was possible, so we did for just an extra fee… Then, on her birthday when she got it, she got speechless. She thanked me so much that I almost think she felt she couldn't thank me enough. And… I think she worn it the day she…'' Jess' voice cracked as he was about to say it again. He sniffed and then put the pendant into his pocket.

-''Alright…'' Monty began, his voice sounding caring. ''If you want to, I can give you a ride home in my car. You have a sister, too, right? Just take her with you and I'll drive you both home.'' The elder teacher offered kindly.

-''Thank you, but it is fine.'' Jess rejected politely, getting an understanding nod from his teacher. The two of them exited the classroom out into the almost empty corridor outside. Monty proceeded to get his things from his small office, and Jess went back to his own locker to get the things out that he didn't grab when Monty had called for him. The corridor was pretty much devoid of any other life, but one was still there, and it wasn't Jess.

The new guy, that ice hockey player, what was his name again? Yeah, that's right, Alex. Jess saw him at the other end of the corridor, him seeming to be struggling with something.

Apparently, Alex had some kind of trouble with his locker. It wouldn't open, and since he had been given the locker from Principle Turner just before entering the classroom, he just as well needed to get his stuff out.

Jess closed and locked his locker door, making sure to remember the four digit combination. He then strode over to the struggling boy, who still couldn't manage to open it. Jess carefully tapped him on his shoulder, politely asked to let himself try, and opened the locker door. Alex looked at him with a puzzled look on his face.

-''Well, I'll be damned. Thanks, man.'' He said shortly proceeding to take out the stuff he had put in earlier.

-''The trick is to turn the dial clockwise at first, and then hit the first number. After that, go counter clockwise until you hit the second number. Repeat until all four numbers are hit, and the lock opens.'' Jess explained with a faint tone of superiority in his voice. Alex rubbed his neck while having an awkward face expression.

-''You know…'' he started with a slightly ashamed tone in his voice. ''You make me feel really stupid.'' Jess shrugged and felt a surge of happiness run through his body. Maybe the rest of his life wasn't going to be so bad after all. He felt that he had taken a first-sight liking to this new boy, and a friend was the best thing he could use right now. Alex then took out his things, mainly his jacket and his backpack that was empty. Before leaving through the entrance doors, he uttered a quick ''Thanks, man'' and then left. Jess chuckled to himself before proceeding to wait at the usual bus pickup spot, along with May Belle.


	4. Chapter 4

When Jess came home later that day, he was surprised of the fact that his father had offered to take care of his shores today. The reason wasn't exactly clear, but Jack mentioned something about the pendant Monty had showed him, as well as phone call. Apparently, Monty had called his father and told him to take it easy on the boy for a while. Apparently, the pendant had stirred up his mind and awakened some mental feelings once again. The pendant had seemed to have quite a deep impact.

Jess didn't really complain. There was days in which he didn't feel like doing anything that had to do with work, and this day was definitely one of them. He did have the pendant, which felt pretty good, but it was also something that also damaged. Memories could be good and bad at the same time, and this one was definitely a memory of that kind.

When it was time for dinner, he didn't feel very hungry and also fairly tired at the same time. After eating only about a quarter of the food his mother gave him, he reluctantly pushed away the plate, uttering a short ''I'm not so hungry'', followed by leaving the table and heading for his room. Just before he fell asleep, he overheard a conversation between his two parents.

-''Jess' teacher called today.'' He heard his father say shortly.

-''Really? What has happened?'' his mother asked right back, having a fairly surprised tone in his voice.

-''Well, as you might have guessed, it's about Leslie's death. Apparently, the teacher found the pendant I bought for Jess to give her on her eleventh birthday.'' He was interrupted when Mary gasped. ''And when he showed it to Jess, it seemed to have a really deep impact. When is he going to get over it, Mary? The poor boy's life is being ruined.'' Jack then sighed hopelessly.

-''You know that it won't be easy for him to do that, love. Leslie's death was both a heavy as well as an unpredictable blow to him. To be honest, I don't expect him to get over it in the nearest future.'' Mary then said to her husband, a comforting tone in her voice. Jack sighed once again.

-''I'm just worried about him, Mary. She meant a LOT to him, and now that she's gone… he's taking it hard.''

-''You would do that too if someone that was so close to you died, Jack.'' Mary told him.

-''Yup… I would.'' Jack said shortly. Jess then fell asleep.

When Jess woke up again, he felt like he was inside some kind of dream. He would have continued to feel that way, but quickly changed his mind when all of it felt alive, alive like when you are fully awake. He got up and went out into the living room, but found to his own great shock that there was nobody there. He looked around in all the rooms, his parents', his older and younger sisters'. But the whole house was empty. Still greatly shocked, he proceeded outside.

The outside looked the same, but there was still no sign of life whatsoever. Jess checked the place where the bus always picked them up and left them, but the small booth wasn't there. There was nothing. What surprised Jess even more was that in place of the normal asphalt, it was just a normal dirt road.

-''What is going on?'' he asked himself as he went back to his house. He still tried to convince himself that it was all just a dream, but it all still felt so real, so alive, that he couldn't convince himself. He tried to wake up, but seeing as it all felt so real, his mind apparently thought it actually was. He felt really baffled. Where had everybody gone?

An instinct that Jess couldn't quite place told him to head to the Terabithian gate, the rope that had snapped that dreadful day and sent Leslie plummeting down towards her death. After a quick, silent argument within himself, he decided to obey that inner voice and head to the place where the rope was. What he would soon see was going to really make him feel puzzled.

When he reached the creek, the gate and the usual meeting place between the two life-long friends, he saw that the rope was intact. He had built a bridge before, a very elegant bridge that provided safe passage in and out from Terabithia, and the bridge still seemed to be there. But that wasn't what made him feel strange. The rope that should be broken was now whole, and the creek was at the water level it had been before the storm. Jess now tried more than ever to convince his mind that this whole ordeal was a dream, and this time his mind seemed to agree with him.

Jess picked up a nearby branch in the intention of using it to reach the rope in order to make sure it was real and not some kind of trick or illusion that was being pulled on him. After a few futile attempts, he managed to get a hold of the rope with the branch, and then aggressively pulled the rope to himself. When he got a grip on it with his own hands, he was fully convinced.

This was a dream. It had to be.

Jess shuddered as he felt the rough rope in his hands. But if this now was a dream, how come everything felt so real? It was almost as if he had gone to sleep and then woke up just an hour or so later. Jess was indeed really baffled.

Jess pulled slightly on the rope to make sure it was tightly secured to the branch of the tree above him. After a few tugs, he braced himself, hoped up into the air, and then swung across.

He landed safely on the other side. He let go of the rope and landing on the slanting slope that led up into the kingdom of Terabithia. He climbed it up and then proceeded to walk deeper and deeper into the forest. Everything looked almost exactly the same, save for some of the leaves of the trees being gone, seeing as the change in the seasons.

-''Hello?'' Jess voice then called out loudly without Jess commanding it to do so. He clasped his mouth shut as well as he could with both hands, but to his great surprise still, his voice shouted again, just as clear as it had sounded before.

Jess then approached the large tree-house that he and Leslie had built during their days in the great kingdom. It still looked all of the same, except for some minor changes in its appearance. Some of the paintings on the side of the small main room was gone and replaced with simple wood. The map of Terabithia was also different somehow. Jess used his sensitive art eye to see that it had been done with a different kind of pencil. He frowned at it before spotting something else.

The map, the new one at that, was sitting sort of loosely at the wall. Jess spotted something hanging out from behind it, something that looked like another sheet of paper. He carefully wiggled the sheet out from behind the map, minding the map not breaking. He then found that it was folded several times. He undid the folding and looked in awe at the sheet of paper.

This paper was a lot more detailed map, capturing most of Terabithia with the tree-house, or ''The Castle Stronghold'' as he liked to call it, in the very middle. From the small room ran a doted line, in a similar ''Point A to B'' manner. It started in that small room, and ended in a part of Terabithia that neither Jess nor Leslie had been in. He couldn't quite place it, but he guessed it was a quarter of a mile or so further than the farthest place they had been, which was landmarked by a giant log that had fallen over. Of course, there were a lot of fallen over logs in this big forest, but this one in particular was easily recognized by the two creators of the magic kingdom.

Jess then climbed down from the tree-house, letting go to fall the last feet down to the ground. He landed with a thud and recovered quickly. He then glanced at the map in his hands. Apparently, as of now, he was supposed to head south, back towards the bridge and the gate. At least that's where the map guided him.

After a while, Jess had followed the road, which led him all the way back to the creek again. He felt annoyed, but that feeling was quickly swept away when he saw something else, another sheet of paper, pinned to the bark of a tree. He slowly walked up to it, not sure if it was really there. Well, after all, he was already fully convinced that this whole thing was a dream, he thought he might as well check it out. It wasn't like he could get hurt or anything, now was it?

The paper sheet held some words written in a language that Jess didn't understand. When he thought more in dept about it, he recognized one of the letters, and the language written turned out to be Russian. Jess frowned at it as well. Why would there be a completely random sheet of paper having Russian text on it in the middle of nowhere, more or less? Then again, this was a dream, and everything can happen in a dream, now can it not? Jess didn't think for long about it and ignored the paper sheet.

-''This isn't quite a dream, dear Jess.'' He then heard a very familiar voice from somewhere behind him. When he spun around to see what it was, he didn't find anyone. Then, out of the air, everything turned black around him. All the trees, all the bushes, even a nearby building nearby, turned completely black and eventually disappeared. Before long, the black substance had started to climb onto him, and in a futile attempt to shake it off or something at least, he felt his muscles go limp. Before everything around him, including himself, went black and he couldn't see a thing, he saw a very familiar face in front of him.

He then shot up in the air, shouting in a mix of what sounded like both horror and awe.

-''Man, what a dream…'' he mumbled quietly to himself before getting up from his bed and proceeded to say hi to the family. It was just after nine in the evening. Turned out he hadn't slept through the night at all, just a few hours.

Strange.


End file.
